Brux starter contaminated

So I had attempted to make a started from a bottle of SN/RR Brux domesticated wild ale. The beer I was gonna pitch it into is currently fermenting with a sacc yeast. I went to add more starter wort to step up the starter. It has a clear smell of nail polish remover/ vinegar. Is this acetobacter?

I really liked this beer that the brux came from and don’t want to lose this strain of brett. How can I isolate the brett from any contaminate? Is it possible to do without inoculating slants or petri dishes? Or is it possible for the brett to be responsible for the odor that I’m attributing to another organism? I poured off the liquid and added the slurry into the jar of fresh starter wort. I don’t know that this helps, but that was my initial panicked reaction.

As for the beer I have started, I’m considering just pitching dregs from a bottle of Orval or Matilda that I have on hand. I also have some Oud Bruin from Verzet that I could add, but I know that has more than just Brett in it.

Brett is quite capable of producing acetic acid in the presence of oxygen. It’s possible that this is what you are smelling. It could also be a by-product from waking up stressed yeast. If it were me, I would step up your starter a couple more times to see if it goes away, so it looks like you’re on the right track.

Orval is a fantastic source for brett! Even a small amount of dregs makes a big change, given enough time.

welcome to brewing wild ales!

There is probably a good amount of pedio in those cakes along with Brett, right?

This one I took from SN/RR Brux should just be brett. It was a pale ale bottle conditioned with brett brux. To the best of my knowledge there is no pedio.

Did you have your starter going on a stir plate? I wouldn’t worry too much about the aroma at this point. Even if you had some contamination, the brett will probably out-compete whatever else might have gotten in there.

Either way, you could wait for the sacch to finish out primary fermentation before adding your brett culture. The brett doesn’t need much to do it’s thing, so you have plenty of time to figure out what’s going on with your brett culture before deciding to pitch it into your beer or go a different route.

Thanks for all of the quick replies. No stir plate, just in a growler with foil to cover. It was only about half full. So the presence of oxygen must be the culprit. I’m gonna give it a few more days and see how it smells before I pitch it.